Knights and Attraziones
by Unease
Summary: Shaundi has always felt a little useless. Fem!Boss/Shaundi set during the events of SR4. Oneshot.


**Bit of a rushed, incoherent piece because I finally bought and finished SR4 because I am cheap as hell. Inconsistencies galore probably.**

**Female voice 1 is all you need in life.**

* * *

Earth was gone. Annihilated. If Shaundi hadn't sworn off drugs a few years ago she would have thought the whole ordeal was a result of a nine day binge. What else could explain her home planet being destroyed on a whim by an extraterrestrial warlord hellbent on conquering the galaxies?

It was the fact that Zinyak had followed through with destroying Earth that pissed her off the most. That wasn't how shit was meant to happen. They were meant to rescue the planet. Of course, she hadn't been around to witness its destruction as Kinzie and the Boss had, herself too busy reliving her failure to save Johnny Gat repeatedly. Despite the Boss assuring her his death was not her fault, no kind words would take away her weakness. Always being the damsel in distress coated her like a skin she could not be rid of. She was the Saints' weak link. Bitterly, she wondered why it was not a stronger Saint on board the ship, sitting in her place on the walkway railings. Oleg would have been much more reliable, but he was gone. Just like the rest of the human race. The thought had been eating at her for hours.

At least Josh Birk wasn't here. Shaundi was only sorry that it took the atomisation of seven billion people to rid herself of that one.

She heaved a sigh, resting her head in her palm and closing her eyes. She didn't need to see the same grey walls she had watched for hours on end each day since being rescued from her simulation. How horrifying it had been, watching the man who was like a brother to her gurgle blood over and over, Shaundi always being too late to stop it. She tried different methods each time; in one attempt she would shoot each enemy in the head to kill them instantly, and in another bypass the Morningstar enemies altogether to speed her mission to no avail. Johnny Gat would still be spitting crimson by the time she arrived.

Her shoulder tingled as she thought of the Boss' touch upon it during the simulation, strong yet comforting. It always had been the Boss that saved her. If she was the scantily-clad damsel in distress, the Boss was always her knight in shining armour, tattooed and dangerous, doing God knows how many miles an hour down the freeway in a garishly-modded Attrazione. If Shaundi could rely on one person, it was the Boss. Even when tied up on top of the monument on Magarac Island alongside Viola and Burt Reynolds, Shaundi knew that they'd be rescued in a pinch.

If the damsel always fell for the knight, it was no wonder then why she fell for the leader of the Third Street Saints after that.

When Pierce told her later that the Boss had a decision between killing Killbane or saving Shaundi, the Boss had interjected, mentioning that there had been no choice - saving Shaundi and the others had always been the only option. Killbane could always die another day. And he did. Perished with the rest of Earth's inhabitants who weren't abducted by Zinyak's fleet.

She opened her eyes again at the sound of the door hissing open, followed by footsteps. Unmistakably the Boss and her heavy-footedness. How many times had Asha told her to quieten down during that mission to eliminate Cyrus Temple for good? The memory brought a small smile. If there was one thing that the Boss was not, it was subtle. The whole mission was like watching a square block be fitted through a triangular-shaped hole.

"You've got a face like a slapped ass," the Boss said after a minute or so of silence.

Shaundi sighed. "I don't want to talk about what happened in my simulation, so don't ask." Her tone was sharper than she intended.

"Well that just fucked up my whole speech," the other woman responded. "You sure?"

Shaundi didn't reply, preferring to look at her legs as they suspended over the railing. She wouldn't break down in front of the Boss. She couldn't. Not after being weak for so long. "I'm sure. Shouldn't you be taking down Zinyak or something?"

The Boss chuckled. "Am I not doing enough already?"

"Since Earth is still gone and everyone's still dead, no." Shaundi couldn't keep a handle on her words as they flew out of her mouth, and she instantly regretted them. After all, it wasn't as if she was doing a great deal other than moping around, and she didn't even know if Earth could be brought back. The Boss had already done so much. She massaged her forehead with her fingers. "Sorry Boss, I shouldn't have said that."

"I've told you a million times to call me by my name. You find it ugly or something?"

Calling the Boss by her given name of Samantha seemed foreign to Shaundi, like pronouncing a word from another language for the first time.

"Anyway," Sam continued, "I think you need to get high. Go get shit-faced with yourself in the simulation. Forget about all this for a while."

The idea of hanging out with her 'fun' younger self for more than ten minutes made Shaundi cringe. Sure, they had made their peace, but without Sam to act as a mediator one of them would probably be dead after an argument over their differing viewpoints. There was also something else that held her back, though.

Noting the silence that answered her question, Sam continued: "Tell me what's wrong, Shaundi. I know it's not just the simulation and Johnny." More silence followed. Sam appeared to pick up on her lieutenant's troubled thoughts. She awkwardly tangled herself between the railings to sit next to her. "As the President of the United States, I-"

"You can't just bring up your POTUS status whenever you want to get your own way."

"As the President of the United St-"

"Sam, shut the hell up."

"Alright, alright," Sam relented, kicking Shaundi's foot playfully with her own, making the lieutenant jump in surprise at the touch. "But you know I'm not leaving until you tell me what's got you wound up."

Shaundi inhaled, the breath shaky. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answer to her next question. "Do you ever wish you had someone more useful here with you? Someone other than me?" The Boss opened her mouth to answer, but Shaundi cut her off. "Have I done anything worthwhile?"

"Well, think about that time you-"

"Am I just completely useless?"

"You will be when I break your arms for interrupting me," Sam muttered. Shaundi took a moment to study Sam. With her brown hair tied back the planes of her face were open to viewing, the high cheekbones adorned by a beauty mark on the right side. Thick eyebrows furrowed in thought above blue eyes. She continued: "When all that shit went down with Veteran Child and the Sons of Samedi back in the day, I'll admit I did worry about you. I didn't want you to get hurt. I still don't, but you've proved you can handle yourself. You helped rebuild the Saints, honey, you're kinda important.

Shaundi blushed beside herself, embarrassed at how much better she felt after the reassurance. She turned her head to hide the expression. She let out a laugh, thinking of the past. "It's always me that gets kidnapped by megalomanic dickheads. Why is that?"

"Because they know it's an easy way to get to me," Sam said, voice soft. She reached over and tucked a strand of hair behind Shaundi's ear. They stayed locked in that moment for a minute, something shifting in the air between them. "It's a bad plan really, because I'll always save you whilst killing eighty-five percent of those bastards. And I promise I-" She stopped for a second before putting her hand over her lieutenant's. "_We_, will kill that alien prick and figure out what to do next. Not Oleg and I, not Zimos and I, not Viola and I, but _you _and I, along with Kinzie and the others."

"Thanks," Shaundi replied, feeling some tension exit her muscles. She felt Sam intertwine their fingers and give a light squeeze. Shaundi was no stranger to the touch of both men and women alike, but not even the most intimate of partners could make her feel as protected as her Boss did.

After a few minutes of contented silence, Sam let go and stood from the railings, the younger woman following suit. As she stretched, back popping, she said, "been a hell of a ride, hasn't it?"

Shaundi could only think of everything that had transpired up until that moment. From being a wasted drugged-up soul to the Director of the Secret Service to being one of the last survivors of the human race. The whole thing still sounded ridiculous. "_That _is an understatement."

"You've changed so much," Sam said, leaving Shaundi to wonder if that was a criticism or compliment.

"We both have."

"Hey, whatever happened with that guy who won your dating show?"

Shaundi raised an eyebrow at the change in topic. She wasn't aware the Boss had an interest in her dating show. The hairs on her arms prickled in anticipation. "Puerto Rican Thunder God? He was sweet and all, but performance didn't live up to the name."

"Look, I gotta tell you something," Sam admitted, looking away shyly before fixing her gaze upon Shaundi once more. "It always drove me crazy that you had exes in every city and were willing to go on a dating show but not once did you ever give me a shot."

The Boss really had no reason to be jealous of Puerto Rican Thunder God, but the idea still gave Shaundi confidence. She stepped closer to Sam, smirking. "You never asked for one." If she had, the lieutenant would have without a doubt given it to her.

"I'm asking now."

A second passed. Shaundi blindly grasped for Sam's hand, tugging the other woman toward her. "Then let's make up for lost time."

They had a lot of time to make up for. Earth was already gone, and everything else could wait.


End file.
